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The 

Traffic  Problems  of  Interurban 
Electric  Railroads 


A    THESIS 

Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  the  University  of 

Pennsylvania  in  Partial   Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 

BY 

THOMAS    CONWAY,    JR. 

UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA 


REPRINTED    FROM 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  ACCOUNTANCY 

MARCH  6,   1909 


The   Traffic   Problems   of  Interurban 
Electric    Railroads 


A    THESIS 

Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  the  University  of 

Pennsylvania  in   Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 

BY 

THOMAS    CONWAY,   JR. 

UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA 


REPRINTED    FROM 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  ACCOUNTANCY 

MARCH  6,   r9o9 


The  Traffic  Problems  of  Interurban  Electric 
Railroads. 

BY  THOMAS  CONWAY,  JR. 

The  application  of  electricity  as  a  method  of  propulsion  has 
been  one  of  the  most  notable  achievements  of  our  generation. 
The  substitution  of  the  trolley  car  for  the  horse  car  has  revolu- 
tionized city  life,  led  to  the  enormous  development  of  our  sub- 
urban districts  and  entirely  changed  the  possibilities  of  country 
living.  There  is  no  class  of  people  who  have  not  profited  by  the 
change.  The  new  power  has  revolutionized  the  street  railway 
industry.  The  changes  which  it  made  in  urban  street  railway 
transportation  are  generally  known.  These  roads,  however,  were 
affected  less  than  any  other  class  of  lines.  Electric  power  brought 
into  being  an  entirely  new  transportation  agency.  The  interurban 
road  was  unknown  twenty  years  ago.  In  the  last  two  decades 
there  has  sprung  up  a  great  network  of  these  lines,  literally  grid- 
ironing  the  country,  and  each  year  sees  more  rapid  construction 
than  that  of  any  preceding  period.  The  economic  basis  of  these 
roads  is  a  matter  about  which  the  public  knows  practically  noth- 
ing. Their  traffic  problems  are  either  misunderstood  or  entirely 
unfamiliar  to  even  well-informed  men.  The  attention  of  inter- 
urban railway  officials  at  the  present  time  is  chiefly  centered  upon 
the  solution  of  these  questions  if  the  character  of  topics  discussed 
at  their  conventions  furnishes  an  accurate  criterion.  The  im- 
portance of  the  interurban  railway  industry,  the  widespread  and 
intimate  effect  which  it  exerts  upon  the  people  of  our  country  and 
the  growing  importance  of  its  securities  as  investments  warrant 
a  careful  analysis  of  the  traffic  problems  of  these  roads. 

Electric  railways  can  be  grouped  into  four  main  classes — the 
urban,  suburban  and  interurban  systems,  and  the  electrified 
divisions  of  steam  railroads. 

The  first,  and  the  type  earliest  established,  is  the  street  car  line 
originally  operated  by  horse  power,  and  now  by  electricity  and 
located  in  cities  and  large  towns.  The  system  almost  always  lies 
within  the  city  limits,  and  is  generally  circumscribed  by  the 
thickly  settled  districts.  The  cars  are  run  at  low  speeds,  making 
stops  at  every  street  intersection. 


187385 


The  second  group  is  made  up  of  suburban  lines  radiating  from 
the  cities  through  the  outlying  residential  districts.  These  lines 
either  interchange  traffic  with  the  urban  companies  at  their 
terminals  or  operate  their  cars  over  the  city  tracks.  The  first 
method  is  generally  followed  in  the  large  eastern  cities  because  of 
the  diversity  of  ownership  of  city  and  suburban  lines,  and  also 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  handling  the  much  larger  and  longer 
geared  suburban  cars  upon  the  narrow  and  congested  city  streets. 
The  second  largely  prevails  in  the  West.  These  suburban  lines 
are  in  no  sense  interurban  roads,  although  they  are  frequently 
classed  as  such.  They  are  rapidly  assuming  the  form  of  railways 
whose  characteristics  are  drawn  both  from  the  city  railways  and 
the  interurban  lines.  These  roads  are  in  the  first  instance  almost 
always  located  on  the  public  highways.  Their  speed  of  opera- 
tion is  usually  restricted  by  the  demands  of  safety,  enforced  not 
only  by  the  fear  of  damage  claims,  but  by  municipal  and  borough 
regulations.  They  are  also  required  to  take  on  passengers  at 
frequent  intervals.  Owing  to  these  limiting  conditions,  suburban 
lines  must  be  content  to  run  at  slow  speeds  and  to  comply  even  in 
sparsely  settled  sections,  in  a  large  measure,  with  the  standards 
of  operation  prevailing  upon  city  streets.  Suburban  lines  are 
usually  built  to  serve  outlying  communities  which  have  already 
been  built  up  by  the  steam  railroads.  They  offer  a  local  service 
supplementing  the  steam  lines.  Their  area  of  action  is  very 
limited  both  because  of  their  slow  speeds,  which  require  much 
time  to  travel  a  short  distance,  and  owing  to  the  additional  handi- 
caps under  which  they  labor  in  competition  with  the  steam  lines 
because  of  the  supplementary  journey  which  the  passenger  must 
make  on  the  city  cars  to  reach  the  business  district.  The  largest 
number  of  these  suburban  lines  are  to  be  found  around  the  large 
cities  in  the  East. 

The  interurban  electric  railway  is  entirely  different  from  any 
of  the  classes  of  lines  already  described.  It  is,  as  its  name  im- 
plies, a  railroad  operated  by  electric  power  connecting  large 
towns  or  cities  and  usually  operating  in  competition  with  the 
steam  railroads.  It  is  primarily  a  passenger  railway  reaching  to 
a  large  extent  localities  which  the  steam  railroads  do  not  serve, 
closely  following  the  movements  of  population,  as  the  steam  rail- 
roads cannot  follow  them,  picking  up  traffic  at  the  various  points 
in  the  town  which  it  traverses  and  through  the  country  at  short 


intervals  along  the  line,  and  offering  a  service  whose  frequency 
and  economy  the  steam  roads  cannot  equal.  It  differs  from  the 
suburban  line  in  that  it  must  secure  traffic  by  offering  a  faster 
service,  which  necessitates  a  different  type  of  construction  and 
equipment. 

The  fourth  class  of  electric  railroads  consists  of  the  electrified 
divisions  of  the  steam  railroads.  These  compete  for  the  suburban 
business,  and  it  is  likely  that  as  time  progresses  a  number  of 
sections  now  covered  by  interurban  lines  will  also  be  served  by 
electrically  operated  trains  running  on  tracks  at  present  used  by 
the  locomotive. 

The  business  of  the  interurban  railway  can  be  divided  into 
three  main  classes ;  the  handling  of  passenger,  freight  and  miscel- 
laneous business.  The  last  includes  mail  and  express  and  income 
arising  from  electric  light  supplied  by  these  companies.  Judged 
from  the  standpoint  of  earnings,  the  passenger  business  makes  up 
almost  the  entire  income  of  the  electric  lines.  In  this  the  inter- 
urban differs  radically  from  the  steam  roads.  Upon  the  steam 
railroad  systems  the  receipts  from  freight  traffic  comprise  almost 
70  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings,  while  on  the  electric  railroads 
the  average  receipts  from  freight  are  less  than  one-half  of  i  per 
cent.  Some  idea  of  the  comparative  sources  of  income  of  the 
steam  and  electric  railroads  can  be  secured  by  comparing  the  data 
compiled  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  for  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1902,  with  the  Census  report  compiled  by  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  of  the  Bureau  of  Census  as 
of  the  same  date. 


Passenger  

Steam 

$3  CI   •?  e6  26^ 

Per.  Cent                    -pi^f^v     Per-  Cent 
of  Total.                                      of  Total. 

22.12                               $233,821,549             94.4 
2.42                                             432,080                O.2 
1.96                                            401,672                 0.2 

.52                                303,608            o.i 

70.67                                        1,038,097                0-4 

Sale  of 
2.31     Electric          7>7°3>574           -31 
.01      Current         3,853,420           1.6 

Mail  

VO  0  A  »  O  J  w  »  *  "  J 

38,453,602 

Express  

o  *-*  '  t  o  o  >  "  w  •* 
3I,I2I,6l3 

Other  Car  Pass.. 
Freight  

8,202,982 
I,I22,6o8,47I 

Other  Earnings. 
Miscellaneous..  . 

36,729,104 
54.OOO 

The  reasons  why  95  per  cent,  of  the  income  of  the  electric 
railroads  in  the  United  States  is  derived  from  the  passenger  busi- 
ness are  partly  historical  and  partly  economic.  In  the  first  place, 
the  major  portion  of  the  income  of  the  electric  railways  is  derived 
from  the  city  lines  on  which  it  is  not  possible  to  maintain  freight 


service.  The  interurban  roads  have  also  been  slow  to  realize  the 
possibilities  of  any  other  business  except  the  handling  of  pas- 
sengers. The  suburban  and  even  the  interurban  lines  have,  for 
the  most  part,  been  constructed  by  men  who  had  street  railway 
training,  which  influenced  them  to  pay  exclusive  attention  to  the 
passenger  business.  To  judge  of  the  relative  proportions  of  the 
various  classes  of  business  of  the  interurbans  by  the  census 
figures,  which  is  the  only  reliable  data  available,  gives  an 
erroneous  impression  because  of  the  overwhelming  preponderance 
which  the  city  lines  exert  in  the  calculation. 

The  passenger  business  of  the  interurban  roads  is  mainly  long 
distance  travel  and  most  of  their  earnings  come  from  handling 
passengers  between  the  terminal  cities.  The  extent  to  which  the 
intercity  travel  figures  in  the  gross  earnings  can  be  judged  by  the 
investigations  conducted  by  the  Muncie,  Hartford  and  Fort  Wayne 
Railway.  This  company  represents  a  distinct  type  of  inter- 
urban. The  tracks  are  laid  from  court  house  to  court  house  in  the 
terminal  cities,  three- fourths  of  the  entire  mileage  lying 
adjacent  to  the  Lake  Erie  and  Western  Railroad.  In  the  cities  cars 
are  operated  only  one  way,  and  the  tracks  of  no  other  company 
are  used.  In  the  terminal  city  of  Muncie  but  four  minutes  are 
required  to  run  from  the  court  house  to  the  corporate  limits,  so 
that  practically  no  city  service  is  given.  In  the  total  traffic  of  the 
line  during  1904  *  the  proportion  of  business  furnished  by  the 
towns  was  82.7  per  cent,  supplied  by  the  rural  districts,  a  ratio  of 
nearly  five  to  one.  While  this  ratio  may  not  be  as  pronounced  in 
the  case  of  other  roads  having  a  greater  proportion  of  mileage 
in  the  cities,  yet  it  is  conceded  that  the  success  of  the  interurban 
depends  upon  its  ability  to  develop  and  retain  intercity  business. 

In  the  struggle  for  traffic  with  the  railroads,  the  interurban 
possesses  important  advantages.  These  lines  are  essentially  local 
affairs  and  for  that  reason  are  able  to  regard  local  necessities  in 
their  competition  with  the  railroads.  They  depend  not  so  much 
upon  rates  to  get  business  from  the  steam  lines  as  upon  the 
superiority  of  their  service. 

Because  of  the  greater  economy  of  operation  the  interurban 
can  offer  facilities  which  are  impractical  for  the  steam  road.  On 
the  electric  railway  the  necessary  power  for  the  movement  of 
large  cars  is  taken  from  a  wire  or  a  third  rail  and  is  applied 

*This  data  is  the  latest  accurate  authoritative  statement  which  has  been  published 
It  represents  the  results  of  a  careful  investigation. 

6 


directly  to  the  axles  of  the  cars.  On  the  steam  roads,  the  engine, 
representing  with  its  tender  an  enormous  weight,  is  required  to 
generate  enough  power  not  only  for  its  own  propulsion,  but  to 
drag  after  it  a  train  of  cars.  Several  important  consequences 
result  from  this  difference  between  steam  and  electric  traction. 
First,  on  the  electric  railway  single  cars  may  be  used,  taking  their 
power  as  required  under  such  headway  as  may  be  necessary  to 
accommodate  the  traffic,  while  the  steam  engine  must  for  the  sake 
of  economy  be  loaded  somewhere  near  its  capacity,  so  that  the 
service  is  necessarily  less  frequent  than  that  offered  by  the  inter- 
urban.  The  steam  service  under  exactly  similar  conditions  is 
much  slower  because  of  the  great  amount  of  time  required  to 
start  and  stop  the  trains.  A  single  electric  car  can  be  stopped  in 
much  less  time  than  that  required  to  halt  an  engine,  tender  and 
three  cars  of  equal  size,  while  in  starting,  the  advantage  is  even 
greater,  the  power  applied  directly  to  the  axle  of  every  electric 
car,  getting  it  in  rapid  motion  before  the  steam  engine  has  done 
more  than  start  its  load.  The  electric  car  can,  therefore,  cover  a 
much  greater  distance  in  an  hour  than  a  passenger  train  making 
the  same  number  of  stops. 

Another  very  important  advantage  possessed  by  the  interurban 
is  the  ability  to  follow  the  traffic  up  hill  and  down  hill,  over 
grades  which  are  unsurmountable  to  a  steam  railway,  up  which 
indeed  a  steam  engine  could  not  propel  its  own  weight.  A  loco- 
motive which  for  each  1,000  pounds  of  weight  on  the  driving 
wheel,  the  standard  by  which  its  efficiency  is  measured,  can  pull  a 
load  of  25,000  pounds  on  the  level,  can  only  handle  6,708  pounds 
up  a  grade  of  44.8  feet  to  the  mile.  When  a  3  per  cent,  grade,  or 
only  158  feet  to  the  mile,  is  encountered,  it  is  practically  all  that 
the  steam  engine  can  do  to  crawl,  coughing  and  panting,  to  the 
summit.  For  the  electric  road,  however,  the  height  of  the  grade 
is  merely  a  question  of  the  amount  of  power  to  be  taken  from 
the  wire,  and  equipment  can  be  provided  which  will  rush  an  inter- 
urban  car,  as  heavy  as  the  ordinary  passenger  coach,  up  a  grade 
of  355  feet  to  the  mile  at  a  speed  of  45  miles  per  hour.  These  are 
inherent  advantages  which  give  to  the  interurban  a  basis  of  per- 
manency, and  which  enable  it  to  succeed  in  competition  with  its 
powerful  and  well  entrenche'd  rival. 

The  degree  to  which  the  interurban  can  compete  with  the 
steam  roads  for  the  through  passenger  business  depends  almost 


entirely  upon  the  character  of  construction  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed. The  type  of  construction  is  the  most  important  factor  in 
judging  of  the  traffic  possibilities  of  the  system  and  a  proper 
understanding  of  this  problem  is  essential  in  studying  the  traffic 
of  these  roads. 

The  pioneers  in  the  interurban  field,  drilled  for  the  most  part 
in  urban  systems,  believed  that  the  number  of  stops  which  the 
interurban  can  make  was  a  matter  of  little  consequence.  Stops 
were  granted  with  careless  prodigality  wherever  traffic  existed. 
Almost  every  farmer  could  secure  one  if  he  asked  for  it  when 
negotiating  with  the  promoters  over  the  right-of-way.  Emphasis 
was  laid  upon  the  ability  of  the  interurban  to  stop  at  every  man's 
door  and  pick  up  traffic  at  every  road  or  lane.  These  early  ideas 
have,  however,  been  abandoned.  Railway  managers  now  under- 
stand that  every  increase  in  the  number  of  car  stops  brings  about 
an  added  power  consumption,  lengthens  the  running  time  between 
termini,  and  increases  the  cost  of  maintaining  equipment.  The 
cost  of  power  required  to  increase  the  speed  of  a  car  to  maintain 
a  given  schedule  is  a  considerable  item,  and  unless  the  traffic 
secured  by  making  the  stops  is  considerable,  the  road  will  lose 
money  by  so  doing.  The  following  table,  prepared  by  E.  E.  Kim- 
bell,  of  the  Engineering  Department  of  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany, demonstrates  very  clearly  that  the  interurban,  offering  a 
high  speed  service,  must  either  keep  down  the  number  of  stops 
to  a  minimum  or  be  prepared  to  provide  for  a  large  increase  in 
the  power  consumption. 


Gross  Weight  in  Tons 
20  

Interurban  Cars 
Maximum 
speed 

AC  m    D    h 

Stops  per 
mile 

Watt  hrs. 
ton-mile 

CQ 

40  

45  m  p  h 

o-75 

I.OO 

87 
92 
6? 

CO.  . 

4  e  m    D   h 

0-75 

I.OO 

u/ 

o-75 

I.OO 

73 

We  can  therefore  understand  why  it  is  that  the  interurban 
roads  are  at  the  present  time  unwilling  to  increase  their  number 
of  stopping  points  except  in  the  thickly  settled  districts.  In  the 
earlier  days  stops  were  made  at  frequent  intervals,  and  this  was 
one  of  the  strongest  arguments  for  the  interburban.  It  is  now 


recognized,  however,  that  the  additional  stops  must  be  made  "  at 
the  expense  of  the  coal  pile."  The  problem,  therefore,  of  the 
electric  line  is  exactly  similar  to  that  which  is  faced  by  the  operat- 
ing department  of  the  steam  railway.  In  order  to  maintain  a  high 
speed,  the  electric  railway  has  been  forced  to  come  almost  to  the 
steam  railway  standards  of  locomotion,  construction  and 
equipment. 

The  first  consideration  in  maintaining  high  speed  service  is 
the  securing  of  a  private  right  of  way.  The  operation  of  cars 
weighing  from  30  to  50  tons  at  speeds  from  45  to  50  miles  an  hour 
upon  a  public  road  is  foolhardy.  No  matter  how  level  the 
road  may  be.  the  operation  of  cars  at  these  speeds  is  extremely 
hazardous.  With  cars  of  this  weight  a  long  distance  is  required 
for  stopping,  and  the  electric  line  constructed  in  this  manner  is 
open  to  great  risk  of  accidents  because  of  the  intersection  of  a 
number  of  highways.  The  position  of  the  electric  line  is  even 
more  defenseless  than  that  of  the  steam  road,  for  while  the  latter 
has  only  to  provide  against  accidents  at  the  intersections  with  the 
public  highways,  the  electric  road  must  in  addition  exercise 
watchfulness  at  every  farm  crossing  and  private  lane  which  is 
carried  over  the  tracks  the  entire  length  of  the  road.  The  num- 
ber of  grade  crossings  is  multiplied  tenfold,  bringing  additional 
liability  to  accident.  An  electric  road  built  in  this  manner  is 
forced  to  accept  one  of  two  alternatives.  It  can  either  maintain 
the  speed  and  settle  for  the  numerous  damage  claims  which  it 
will  be  forced  to  meet,  or  it  can  reduce  the  speed  of  operation, 
thereby  losing  its  grip  upon  the  through  business  which  consti- 
tutes its  main  source  of  support.  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
second  alternative  is  the  one  usually  adopted,  for  it  takes  many 
thousands  of  riders  to  pay  the  cost  of  a  single  accident.  In  addi- 
tion, accidents  involving  injury  and  loss  of  life  arouse  the  local 
communities  and  induce  the  passage  of  restrictive  legislation 
limiting  the  speed  of  cars  and  requiring  them  to  stop  at  every 
road  intersection.  Under  such  conditions  fast  time  is  absolutely 
impossible.  The  construction  of  interurban  roads  upon  public 
highways  is  most  unfortunate.  The  service  becomes  constantly 
slower  as  the  country  settles  up,  with  a  consequent  increase  in  the 
time  required  to  travel  from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other. 

What  the  interurban  road  gains,  therefore,  by  the  growth  in 
its  local  business  it  loses  by  the  decrease  in  its  through  traffic, 


which  little  by  little  drifts  to  the  steam  lines.  This  is  strikingly 
shown  by  the  experience  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  With 
the  construction  of  the  electric  lines  between  Philadelphia  and 
Wilmington  the  Pennsylvania  line  connecting  these  two  cities 
lost  heavily;  the  traffic  was  so  greatly  diminished  that  the  main- 
tenance of  many  stations  on  the  steam  road  was  no  longer  profit- 
able, and  a  number  were  abandoned.  At  almost  every  point, 
schedules  had  to  be  reduced  because  of  the  small  volume  of 
business.  Mr.  Samuel  Rea,  the  third  vice-president  of  the 
company,  in  testifying  before  the  Royal  Commission  on  London 
traffic  in  1906  brought  out  the  fact  that  this  business  had  now 
come  back  to  the  steam  line,  because  as  he  expressed  it,  the 
trolleys  had  induced  building  within  the  first  few  miles,  which 
necessitated  a  large  number  of  stops  and  a  slower  speed,  con- 
stantly increasing  the  length  of  time  required  to  reach  a  given 
section;  the  electric  line  became,  therefore,  so  unattractive 
that  the  people  naturally  had  to  resort  again  to  the  steam  rail- 
road. Mr.  Rea  expresses  the  belief  that  the  same  thing  would 
soon  occur  upon  almost  every  other  portion  of  the  Pennsylvania 
system. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  properly  maintain  a  rock  ballasted 
"  T  "  railed  road  on  a  public  highway.  Ditches  can  be  provided 
only  on  one  side  of  the  road  which  is  therefore  only  half  drained. 
Every  slight  undulation  in  the  highway  must  be  conformed  to  by 
the  electric  line ;  continuous  equalizing  of  grades  being  impossible 
because  of  the  objection  which  the  land  owners  offer  to  variations 
in  the  level  of  the  electric  line  and  the  road.  As  a  consequence  of 
these  objections,  interurbans  constructed  upon  the  public  high- 
ways are  meeting  with  constantly  increasing  disfavor  both  by 
investors  and  engineers. 

The  second  error  into  which  the  builders  of  the  early  inter- 
urbans fell  was  in  the  construction  of  lines  with  too  heavy  grades. 
The  apparent  ease  with  which  the  electric  cars  surmounted  grades 
prohibitive  for  locomotives  directed  attention  from  the  economies 
of  low  grade  electric  lines.  For  the  pioneers  in  the  interurban 
field,  money  was  very  difficult  to  secure  and  they  were  forced  to 
husband  it  in  every  way  possible.  Every  dollar  saved  on  the  cost 
of  grading  decreased  so  much  the  original  cost  of  construction 
of  the  line,  and  these  opportunities  for  economical  construction 
were  eagerly  seized.  It  was  believed  to  be  good  policy  to  spend 

10 


money  on  excavations,  and  operate  the  road  with  heavier 
grades  than  to  make  large  outlays  in  order  to  secure  a  com- 
paratively level  line. 

The  problem  which  the  promoters  of  the  interurban  met  with 
differed  in  no  respect  from  that  which  presented  itself  to  the 
builders  of  our  steam  railroads.  The  only  difference  was  that 
the  builders  of  the  electric  railway  had  a  wider  latitude  than  their 
predecessors  because  of  the  superiority  of  the  electric  motor  over 
the  locomotive  as  a  hill  climber.  It  was  a  long  time  until  even 
interurban  officials  recognized  that  the  same  laws  of  physics  and 
the  same  principles  of  construction  and  operation  which  had  been 
worked  out  for  the  steam  roads  applied  to  them.  This  fact  is  not 
even  yet  understood  by  the  investor  and  the  general  public. 

The  cost  of  moving  each  ton  of  burden  over  a  grade  varies 
but  little,  no  matter  what  form  of  power  is  used.  The  same 
amount  of  energy  is  required  in  each  case  and  the  only  economy 
which  is  possible  is  because  power  can  be  more  economically 
generated  in  a  large  power  house  than  in  a  locomotive  boiler,  and 
more  effectively  applied  through  the  medium  of  the  motor  than 
through  a  steam  engine  directly  connected  to  the  driving  wheels. 
The  economies  which  the  electric  line  enjoyed  because  of  its 
ability  to  operate  in  single  car  units  with  almost  the  same  effi- 
ciency as  in  trains  was  so  great  as  to  conceal  and  entirely  offset 
the  losses  which  arose  from  the  heavy  computation  of  power  used 
up  in  surmounting  excessive  grades.  Single  cars  are  frequently 
fitted  with  motors  having  a  horse  power  energy  equal  to  that  of 
the  average  locomotive  designed  to  handle  ten  to  twenty  cars  of 
equal  weight.  There  is  small  wonder  that  grades  seem  of  little 
consequence  to  the  electric  car  so  long  as  scrutiny  is  not  directed 
towards  the  coal  bill. 

It  has  only  been  within  recent  years  that  the  science  of  electric 
traction  was  well  enough  understood  and  worked  out  with  suffi- 
cient definiteness  to  enable  the  engineer  to  demonstrate  mathe- 
matically the  economy — indeed,  the  necessity — of  constructing 
roads  with  low  gradients  and  easy  curves. 

The  method  by  which  the  problem  is  determined  is  illustrated 
by  the  following  computation  made  by  Albert  B.  Herrick,  of  New 
York,  a  recognized  expert  on  interurban  railway  matters : 

In  the  matter  of  the  effect  of  grades,  assuming  the  case  of  a  1,000  foot 
grade  of  3  per  cent.,  as  against  a  5  per  cent,  grade,  and  taking  the  cost  of 

ii 


reducing  the  5  per  cent,  grade  to  a  3  per  cent,  grade  as  $3,500,  the  relative 
value  of  the  two  can  be  computed  as  follows : 

A  car  going  up  a  5  per  cent,  grade  for  1,000  feet  has  gained  an  elevation 
of  50  feet,  and,  assuming  the  car  weighs  25  tons,  the  car's  potential  energy 
at  the  top  of  the  grade  has  increased  2,500,000  foot  pounds.  In  order 
that  the  motors  may  produce  this  72  horse  power  of  energy,  there  will  be 
required  at  the  power  station,  under  the  very  best  average  conditions  of 
conversion  and  transmission,  the  capacity  to  deliver  144  horse  power  for 
the  time  that  it  takes  the  equipment  to  surmount  this  grade,  assuming  that 
the  equipment  is  geared  to  40  miles  per  hour  on  the  level,  and  a  schedule 
speed  of  20  miles  per  hour,  including  stops  and  slow  downs,  is  maintained, 
it  would  require  41  seconds  to  mount  this  grade,  and  during  this  time  the 
station  is  exerting  144  horse  power  for  this  one  car  due  to  this  grade  alone. 

Taking,  on  the  other  hand,  the  3  per  cent,  grade  for  the  same  distance 
(but  as  a  matter  of  fact  reducing  grades  reduces  the  distance  between 
terminal  points,  as  a  grade  may  be  considered  a  curve  in  a  vertical  plane) 
when  the  car  has  mounted  this  grade,  it  has  gained  potential  energy  of 
1,500,000  foot  pounds,  or  45  horse  power,  and  the  station  has  had  to 
produce  only  90  horse  power  for  this  car.  The  speed  at  which  the  car 
could  ascend  the  3  per  cent,  grade  would  be  21  miles  per  hour,  and  the 
time  consumed  would  be  30  seconds.  The  time  gained  on  the  3  per  cent, 
grade  compared  with  the  5  per  cent,  grade  would  be  n  seconds,  and  the 
horse  power  output  at  the  station  saved  would  be,  by  the  lower  grade,  54 
horse  power  for  30  seconds  and  144  horse  power  for  n  seconds  each  time 
a  car  mounted  the  grade.  Assuming  the  cost  of  power  at  I  cent  per 
horse-power  hour,  the  cost  of  power  would  be  88  cents.  Assuming  the 
cost  of  time  at  $4.60  per  car  hour,  this  would  mean  a  saving  of  .0137  cent 
as  representing  the  saving  »in  car  operation  of  the  3  per  cent,  grade  as 
against  the  5  per  cent,  grade.  Assuming  half-hour  schedules  at  terminals 
and  a  symmetrical  grade  on  each  side,  there  would  be  a  saving  of  $2.08  per 
day,  or  a  return  of  21.6  per  cent  on  the  $3,500  expenditure  necessary  to  pro- 
duce the  grade  from  5  per  cent,  to  3  per  cent.  This  grade  could  be  reduced 
still  further  with  economy,  but  3  per  cent,  was  taken  as  the  limit  because 
ordinary  equipment  will  float  down  a  3  per  cent,  grade  at  the  schedule 
speed,  whereas,  on  a  5  per  cent,  grade  the  brakes  have  to  be  applied  to 
keep  the  car  within  speed  limits;  but  in  this  consideration  other  capital 
expenditures  are  involved — for  instance,  the  distance  of  the  grade  from  the 
power  house  will  have  an  influence  on  the  amount  of  copper  feeders  re- 
quired in  order  to  maintain  the  proper  potential  delivery.  If  the  heavier 
grade  is  the  maximum  grade  on  the  route,  it  might  be  necessary  to  in- 
crease the  capital  outlay  in  the  power  station  to  meet  this  demand,  and  this 
is  especially  true  if  the  meeting  points  are  at  the  top  of  the  grade  and  the 
maximum  demand  for  both  equipments  occur  at  the  same  time.  This 
would  increase  the  station  outlay  at  least  $90.00  per  horse  power,  and  it 
would  also  increase  the  station  operating  costs;  moreover,  most  of  the 
interest  and  maintenance  on  the  additional  power  station  equipment 
would  be  a  standing  loss,  for  this  outfit  would  be  required  onlyf  for  41 
seconds  every  15  minutes. 

12 


The  question  involved  in  these  cases  is  how  much  it  is  possible  to  re- 
duce grades  by  forming  an  equation,  one  side  of  which  is  the  cost  involved 
in  the  reduction  of  the  grade  and  the  annual  charge  for  this  cost,  the  other 
side  of  the  equation  being  the  saving  effected  in  power,  time  and  main- 
tenance. For  each  particular  case  the  rate  of  interest  for  the  cost  of 
greater  reduction  can  be  equated  against  the  operating  expense  in  sur- 
mounting the  proposed  grade  as  against  the  reduced  grade.  The  same 
argument  applies  with  respect  to  avoiding  curves.  The  saving  in  car 
mileage  on  a  tangent  track  as  compared  with  a  track  taking  a  sinuous 
course  to  reach  the  same  terminals  can  be  easily  computed.  In  making 
the  computation,  regard  should  also  be  paid  to  the  matter  of  slower 
schedules  and  increased  accident  hazard  when  operating  on  curves. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  interurban  pays  a  heavy  price  for  dis- 
regarding gradients  and  yet  we  find  a  large  number  of  important 
systems  operating  over  very  heavy  grades.  The  Eastern  Ohio 
Traction  Company,  for  example,  has  on  its  main  line  a  grade  of 
2,700  feet,  with  a  rise  of  from  10  to  12^  per  cent.  The  Cincin- 
nati, Georgetown  &  Portsmouth  Railway  Company  has  a  grade 
of  8  per  cent,  for  almost  an  equal  distance,  while  the  Philadelphia 
and  West  Chester  Traction  Company  operates  over  maximum 
gradients  exceeding  7  per  cent. 

In  every  case  these  companies  have  overcome  the  difficulty  of 
heavy  grades  by  the  purchase  of  cars  fitted  with  unusually  high 
power  motors,  and  by  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  for  the 
provision  of  heavy  feed  wires  and  station  equipment.  In  other 
words  they  have  overcome  the  deterring  effect  of  the  law  of 
gravity  by  the  provision  of  unusual  and  enormous  power  which 
will  drive  the  cars  up  the  grades  in  spite  of  the  resistance  with 
which  they  meet.  This,  however,  involves  an  expense  which  with 
a  road  of  lighter  grades  could  be  avoided  and  therefore  adds  to 
the  cost  of  operation  without  increasing  the  income.  With  the 
growing  realization  of  the  perpetual  value  of  low-grade  con- 
struction, no  matter  what  the  power  employed,  the  tendency  has 
been  to  construct  interurbans  with  minimum  grades.  It  is 
realized  that  where  sufficient  traffic  is  in  sight  to  warrant  the 
expenditure  it  is  better  to  operate  on  low  grades  with  high  speed 
and  less  cost  of  operation  than  over  heavy  grades  with  less 
interest  on  capital  but  heavier  power  consumption  and  slower 
schedules. 

Practically  all  of  the  interurbans  built  in  recent  years  are 
located  upon  private  rights  of  way.  There  are  two  methods  of 
locating  a  line  upon  a  private  right  of  way.  The  road  can  either 

13 


parallel  the  highway,  occupying  a  separately  fenced-in  roadway 
immediately  adjacent  thereto,  or  it  can  follow  the  practice  of  the 
steam  railroads  which  consider  the  natural  formation  of  the 
country  rather  than  the  location  of  the  highways  in  the  region. 
If  the  first  method  is  followed,  the  company  only  partially  escapes 
the  limitations  and  handicaps  which  are  met  with  by  building  its 
line  upon  the  public  road,  for  not  only  is  it  impossible  in  most 
cases  to  get  property  owners  to  forego  their  right  to  cross  over 
the  right  of  way  to  the  public  road,  but  it  is  likely  that  as  time 
progresses  and  adjacent  territory  is  built  up,  the  number  of  these 
road  crossings  secured  by  the  local  authorities  of  the  townships 
will  increase.  By  this  construction  the  interurban  can  decrease 
the  number  of  cross-overs  but  cannot  avoid  them  altogether.  The 
property  owner  who  has  the  right  to  come  out  on  the  highway  at 
any  and  all  points  when  the  road  was  constructed  in  the  public 
thoroughfare  can  be  limited  to  use  one  or  two  cross-overs,  but  he 
will  not  voluntarily  forego  this  privilege  and  he  cannot  be  forced 
to  do  so.  Such  a  location,  therefore,  minimizes  but  does  not 
eradicate  the  evils  of  public  road  operation.  It  fixes  with  abso- 
lute precision  the  spots  at  which  accidents  are  likely  to  occur,  but 
it  does  not  prevent  such  casualties. 

The  high  speed  suburban  lines,  of  which  there  is  a 
large  number,  it  is  true  prefer  a  location  parallel  to  the  highway 
because  the  most  thickly  settled  districts  are  contiguous  to  the 
main  roads.  The  typical  interurban  companies,  however,  do  not 
pursue  this  policy.  They  prefer  a  line  constructed  in  the  location 
which  the  engineers  find  most  favorable  from  the  standpoint  of 
grades.  They  avoid  rather  than  seek  the  highways,  because  by  so 
doing  they  can  cut  down  to  the  minimum,  or  entirely  eliminate 
grade  crossings.  Such  crossings  as  they  encounter  will  be  public 
roads  located  wide  distances  apart  where  the  railroad  company 
can  protect  itself  by  whistling  as  do  the  steam  roads.  Under  such 
conditions  the  burden  of  care  falls  upon  the  persons  who  use  the 
public  highways  rather  than  upon  the  railroad  company.  With 
cross-overs  every  500  or  1,000  feet  it  is  true  the  company  might 
also  maintain  a  policy  of  whistling  at  every  crossing,  but  this 
would  create  a  bedlam  which  would  be  intolerable  both  to  the 
residents  along  the  line  and  to  the  travelers  on  the  car.  As  a 
consequence  of  the  failure  to  whistle,  however,  the  company 
shares  with  the  traveler  the  necessity  of  exercising  caution,  with 

14 


the  result  that  in  damage  cases  juries  find  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff. 

We  may  therefore  conclude  that  the  modern  interurban  rail- 
road in  its  chief  engineering  characteristics  differs  but  little  from 
the  steam  lines.  It  is  built  on  a  private  right  of  way  with  as  few 
road  crossings  as  possible.  The  stops  are  reduced  to  as  small  a 
number  as  is  practicable,  while  the  grades  are  kept  down  to  the 
lowest  point  warranted  by  the  volume  of  business  considered  in 
relation  to  the  cost  of  construction.  This  is  done  both  for  the 
purpose  of  increasing  the  speed  and  in  order  to  cut  down  the 
power  consumption.  All  of  these  matters  are  of  importance  in 
the  passenger  travel,  but  if  the  interurban  desires  to  handle 
freight  they  are  of  even  greater  moment. 

The  economic  basis  for  the  success  of  the  interurban  as  a 
transportation  agency  for  the  handling  of  passenger  business  is 
easily  understood.  The  ability  to  carry  a  large  amount  of  power 
within  a  small  compass  and  with  a  low  percentage  of  dead  weight, 
the  economy  of  power  generation,  the  ability  to  operate  cars  in 
single  units  with  efficiency  and  profit,  the  possibility  of  surmount- 
ing grades  which  are  insuperable  to  the  steam  locomotive,  the 
absence  of  smoke,  cinders  and  dirt,  the  ability  to  enter  the  very 
heart  of  the  large  city  over  the  ordinary  street  railway  tracks, 
bringing  the  rural  traffic  into  the  metropolitan  business  district 
without  a  change  of  cars  over  a  roadbed  whose  cost  is  but  a 
fraction  of  that  of  the  steam  line,  all  have  given  the  interurban 
road  such  an  advantage  that  its  success  as  a  transportation  agency 
is  assured. 

The  interurban  secures  its  business  from  two  sources,  in  the 
first  place  it  immediately  attracts  to  itself  a  large  volume  of 
traffic  which  had  formerly  been  handled  by  the  steam  roads, 
bringing  about  at  first,  at  least,  a  heavy  temporary  decrease  in 
business  upon  the  older  lines.  The  latter  have  usually  taken 
aggressive  measures  to  prevent  the  loss  of  their  business,  both  by 
reducing  fares  and  by  offering  quicker  and  more  frequent  service. 
In  most  cases,  however,  their  efforts  have  been  fruitless.  It  is 
practically  impossible  to  secure  statistics  which  show  the  effect  of 
the  interurbans  on  the  steam  lines.  The  only  accurate  evidence 
upon  this  matter  so  far  published  is  that  showing  the  results  of 
the  competition  of  an  electric  line  between  Cleveland  and  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  a  town  about  thirty-five  miles  west  of  this  city,  and  the 


Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway.  The  steam  rail- 
road in  1895  carried  203,014  between  these  points;  seven  years 
later,  after  the  fast  interurban  service  had  been  established  be- 
tween these  two  cities,  the  number  of  Lake  Shore  passengers  had 
fallen  to  91,761,  a  decrease  of  from  16,918  to  7,640  passengers  a 
month. 

Similar  results  have  occurred  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
interurbans  have,  in  most  cases,  cut  heavily  into  the  short  dis- 
tance passenger  travel  of  the  steam  roads,  the  lure  of  the  frequent 
service  and  low  fares  usually  being  irresistible. 

A  large  part  of  the  prosperity  of  the  interurbans  has  been  due 
to  the  large  amount  of  new  traffic  they  have  created.  Travel  is 
largely  a  matter  of  habit  and  by  diminishing  the  effort  required  to 
travel,  by  taking  on  a  passenger  practically  at  his  own  door  and 
transporting  him  quickly  and  comfortably  in  attractive,  comfort- 
able cars,  without  the  smoke,  dirt  and  noise  incident  to  railroad 
travel,  almost  to  the  very  door  of  his  destination,  the  interurbans 
have  greatly  stimulated  the  travel  habit,  not  only  to  their  own 
profit,  but  to  the  infinite  advantage  of  the  thousands  of  farmers 
located  along  their  lines. 

While  the  steam  railroads  have  suffered  from  the  competition 
which  the  interurbans  brought  into  their  short  distance  work, 
they  have  probably  more  than  recovered  the  loss  in  the  large  in- 
crease of  long  distance  passenger  business,  which  has  resulted 
from  the  rapid  growth  of  the  traveling  habit,  for  which  the  inter- 
urbans are  largely  responsible.  Many  of  the  best  informed  rail- 
way officials  in  the  country  predict  that  the  time  is  not  far  off 
when  the  steam  roads  will  be  very  glad  to  hand  over  to  some 
other  agency  of  transportation  all  of  their  short  distance  pas- 
senger work.  They  point  out  that  in  ordinary  times  the  railroad 
facilities  are  always  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  ship- 
ping public.  Cars  can  be  easily  and  comparatively  quickly 
secured,  but  the  duplication  of  roadway  facilities  is  a  serious 
matter,  becoming  constantly  more  difficult  with  the  closer  settle- 
ment of  the  country  and  the  consequent  growth  in  land  values. 
The  limitations  upon  the  expansion  of  the  traffic  of  our  railroads 
are,  therefore,  furnished  by  the  trackage  and  terminal  facilities 
which  they  possess.  It  is  contended  that  the  railroads  will  soon 
be  brought  to  the  point  where  it  will  be  a  question  of  selection 
between  various  classes  of  business.  Passenger  work  is  the  least 

16 


profitable  and  since  the  short  distance  business  is  actively  sought 
for  by  other  means  of  transportation,  it  seems  likely  that  this  will 
be  the  class  of  business  which  will  be  surrendered.  Mr.  Samuel 
Rea,  third  vice-president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  in  testify- 
ing before  the  Royal  Commission  on  London  Traffic,  1906,  stated 
that  he  did  not  think  the  trunk  lines  in  the  neighborhood  of  large 
cities  could  handle  local  traffic  to  advantage.  He  used  as  an  illus- 
tration the  suburban  business  outside  of  Philadelphia.  He  stated 
that  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company's  average  rate  for  com- 
muting riders  out  of  Philadelphia  is  7/10  of  I  cent,  per  mile, 
so  that  for  five  miles  the  company  only  gets  3^2  cents,  whereas 
the  average  cost  of  putting  passengers  through  the  Broad  Street 
Station  terminal  is  figured  by  the  company  at  3  cents.  This  leaves 
only  one-half  of  I  cent  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  the 
passenger.  He  believes  that  the  greater  use  of  the  large  terminals 
by  the  through  business  makes  the  short  distance  work  relatively 
less  profitable  with  each  passing  year.  This  view  is  generally 
shared  by  the  railway  officials  throughout  the  country. 

The  feeling  that  the  short  distance  passenger  business  occupies 
trackage  which  would  produce  larger  earnings  if  they  were  de- 
voted to  freight,  is  bringing  the  steam  lines  constantly  closer  to 
the  point  where  they  are  willing  to  turn  over  the  strictly  short 
distance  work  to  the  interurbans.  The  officials  of  the  electric 
lines  fully  realize  the  protection  which  this  situation  gives  them 
and  they  view  with  no  feeling  of  uneasiness,  the  consequences  of 
the  electrification  of  the  steam  roads.  They  are  confident  that 
the  interurban  has  come  to  stay,  that  its  traffic  is  absolutely 
assured  and  is  free  from  the  possibilities  of  serious  reductions. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  interurbans  have  only  developed 
the  traffic  for  distances  ranging  from  ten  to  fifty  miles.  This  has 
been  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  length  of  the  average  system 
is  somewhere  between  these  limits.  During  the  last  few  years 
there  has  been  a  decided  movement  looking  toward  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  smaller  lines  into  a  few  large  systems.  As  a  result  of 
this  movement,  together  with  the  growing  disposition  among 
interurban  officials  to  cooperate  for  their  mutual  advantage, 
numerous  efforts  have  been  made  to  offer  a  passenger  service, 
intended  to  attract  business  for  distances  between  fifty  and  one 
hundred  miles.  Considerable  progress  has  already  been  made. 


Several  roads  have  in  operation  parlor,  sleeping  and  dining  cars, 
offering  high-speed  service  between  widely  separated  centers. 

The  economic  basis  of  the  long  distance  travel  lies  in  the 
greater  profitableness  which  is  involved  in  the  handling  of  a  car 
of  people  for  a  long  journey  with  few  stops  and  at  a  relatively 
higher  rate  of  fare.  Under  ordinary  conditions  a  car  has  a 
heavy  load  for  a  short  distance  after  leaving  the  city.  In  many 
cases  standing  room  is  at  a  premium.  Cars  are  frequently  over- 
loaded and  the  extra  weight  and  the  frequent  stops  disarranges 
the  schedule  and  demoralizes  the  system.  For  the  greater  part 
of  the  journey,  however,  the  car  is  nearly  empty.  Such  a  traffic 
yields  a  heavy  income  in  the  first  fare  zone  with  a  constantly  de- 
creasing income  in  each  succeeding  zone.  The  total  earnings  of  a 
car  for  a  trip  would  be  smaller  than  had  it  been  able  to  run  loaded 
to  one-half  or  one-third  of  its  capacity  throughout  the  entire 
distance. 

Under  ordinary  conditions  the  development  of  long  distance 
traffic  is  practically  impossible.  The  existence  of  a  defective  and 
inadequate  roadbed  and  equipment  on  a  portion  of  the  journey 
makes  the  whole  ride  unattractive.  The  comparative  shortness 
of  each  road  necessitates  frequent  change  of  cars,  while  the  fail- 
ure to  closely  adhere  to  schedules  results  in  frequent  missed  con- 
nections and  consequent  vexatious  delays.  It  is  practically  im- 
possible to  develop  any  considerable  long  distance  business  so 
long  as  it  is  necessary  to  change  cars.  A  considerable  through 
business  can  only  be  developed  where  special  facilities  are 
provided. 

Two  methods  are  generally  employed  in  offering  through  ser- 
vice. The  first  is  the  coupling  of  a  through  car  to  the  local  car, 
running  the  two  of  them  as  a  train.  The  through  car  is  detached 
at  the  end  of  each  road  and  is  attached  to  the  local  on  the  next 
system.  This  plan,  however,  is  feasible  only  where  there  is  a 
strong  similarity  between  the  equipment  on  the  various  systems. 
Not  only  must  they  be  sufficiently  alike  to  permit  of  the  cars  of  the 
various  roads  being  coupled  together,  but  it  is  necessary  that  they 
be  equipped  with  multiple  unit  controllers,  enabling  several  cars 
to  be  operated  by  a  single  motorman.  Such  a  close  similarity  of 
conditions  is  very  infrequent.  Moreover,  the  officers  of  inter- 
urban  roads  object  strenously  to  allowing  their  cars  to  be  handled 
by  men  employed  by  other  systems  who  they  feel  have  been  de- 

18 


^ 

fectively  trained,  and  disapprove  of  allowing  even  ordinary  re       x 
pairs  to  be  made  in  the  shops  of  other  companies  whose  employee- 
are  unfamiliar  with  their  type  of  equipment. 

In  a  number  of  cases,  however,  through  cars  or  trains  have 
been  provided  running  over  the  entire  route  without  change. 
Under  this  plan  the  earnings  are  apportioned  among  the  several 
companies  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  followed  by  the  steam  rail- 
roads. Owing  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  cars  can  be  operated 
at  high  speed  with  much  greater  power  economy  than  single 
units,  the  tendency  has  been  to  operate  the  through  service  in 
trains  of  two  or  three  cars.  This  system  of  operation  has  the 
additional  advantage  of  being  more  popular  with  the  people  who 
have  become  accustomed  to  a  service  providing  baggage  and 
smoking  cars  and  one  or  two  day  coaches.  They  expect  similar 
conveniences  of  the  interurban  for  long  distance  travel.  Where 
the  lines  are  sufficiently  well  built  and  equipped  to  make  this 
possible,  it  seems  likely  that  this  plan  will  be  more  used.  The 
development  of  long  distance  travel,  however,  is  in  its  infancy. 
There  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  the  most  modern  type 
of  roads  can  offer  it  with  advantage  and  with  profit.  The  Lake 
Shore  Electric  Railway,  for  example,  inaugurated  some  years 
ago  a  through  service  between  Cleveland  and  Toledo,  a  distance 
of  118  miles.  The  competition  which  they  had  to  meet  was 
probably  as  severe  as  that  which  would  be  encountered  by  the 
interurbans  in  any  section  of  the  country.  Not  only  does  the  line 
closely  parallel  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway, 
admittedly  one  of  the  best  equipped  and  most  efficient  trunk  lines 
in  the  country,  giving  frequent  and  high-speed  service  over  a 
route  which  is  nearly  ten  miles  shorter  than  that  of  the  electric 
road,  but  during  eight  months  in  the  year  there  are  steamers 
between  these  two  cities,  offering  a  pleasant  trip  and  a  lower  fare 
than  either  of  the  other  carriers  could  name.  The  express 
trains  on  the  steam  road  make  the  trip  in  two  hours  and  thirty- 
five  minutes,  while  the  ordinary  train  requires  three  hours  and 
thirty  minutes.  The  fare  on  the  steam  roads  is  $3.25.  The 
schedule  of  the  electric  line  is  six  hours  for  the  regular  cars,  and 
four  hours  and  thirty  minutes  for  the  limited  cars  which  leave  the 
terminal  three  times  daily,  morning,  noon  and  evening.  The  fare 
on  the  electric  line  is  $1.75,  no  matter  whether  the  regular  or 
limited  cars  are  used.  During  the  first  month  of  operation 

19 


(January,  1903)  498  single  trips  were  sold,  while  during  the  last 
month  of  that  year  1,161  tickets  were  disposed  of.  Detailed 
statistics  showing  the  operation  of  the  line  in  later  years  are  not 
available,  but  it  has  been  stated  that  the  traffic  has  steadily  in- 
creased through  the  succeeding  period.  In  November,  1903,  the 
limited  cars  earned  on  an  average  of  thirty-five  cents  per  car  mile, 
while  the  general  average  of  the  system  for  all  cars  was  only 
twenty-two  cents  per  car  mile.  The  increase  of  earnings  for  the 
limited  cars  over  the  general  average  amounts  to  fifty-seven  per 
cent.  On  a  number  of  runs  the  earnings  have  exceeded  one 
dollar  per  car  mile. 

While  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  accurate  figures  on  the  cost 
of  maintaining  the  limited  cars,  yet  sufficient  data  is  available  to 
enable  the  operating  officials  to  state  that  they  were  less  expensive 
to  operate  than  the  regular  cars.  The  extra  wear  from  high  speed 
operation  is  more  than  offset  by  the  saving  in  power  required 
where  frequent  stops  prevail. 

The  experience  of  the  Cleveland  line  has  been  duplicated  in 
numerous  other  sections  of  the  country.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that  long  distance  through  traffic  is  only  possible 
where  the  roads  have  been  built  according  to  the  most  approved 
technical  standards  with  private  rights  of  way,  with  low  grades 
and  easy  curves,  and  where  the  entire  distance  between  the 
terminal  cities  is  under  the  control  of  one  company,  or  where 
there  is  a  sufficient  spirit  of  cooperation  to  make  possible  joint 
operation  under  practicable  conditions. 

The  rapid  growth  in  the  traffic  of  the  interurbans  has  been 
largely  the  result  of  effective  advertising  and  publicity  work. 
The  electric  roads  have  gone  much  further  than  the  steam  roads 
in  working  out  plans  for  increasing  travel.  The  greater  impor- 
tance of  this  class  of  traffic  to  the  interurban  and  the  restricted 
area  of  the  field  in  which  the  publicity  work  is  to  be  done,  are 
probably  the  reasons  which  explain  the  prominence  of  the  newer 
transportation  agency  in  this  field. 

The  most  generally  used  method  of  publicity  is  the  posting  of 
time  cards  in  railway  stations,  hotel  lobbies  and  other  public 
places,  and  the  placing  of  small  racks  containing  printed  schedules 
at  these  points.  In  addition  to  this  a  large  number  of  interurban 
roads  run  regular  cards  in  the  newspapers  announcing  the  time 
of  arrival  and  departure  of  their  cars.  This  advertising  has  in 

20 


almost  every  case  proved  to  be  very  profitable.  A  considerable 
proportion  of  the  interurban's  riders  are  made  up  of  traveling 
men  who  find  it  much  more  satisfactory  than  either  driving  or 
the  steam  railroads  in  making  the  various  towns  on  their  trips. 
The  insertion  of  these  schedules  induces  a  drummer  to  use  the 
interurban  because  he  can  figure  out  with  certainty  his  day's 
itinerary  before  starting  out  from  his  hotel  in  the  morning.  The 
few  extra  fares  which  these  cards  and  newspaper  insertions  will 
attract  are  practically  all  profit  for  the  handling  of  this  extra 
business  adds  but  little  to  the  cost  of  operation.  A  moderate 
number  of  additional  fares,  therefore,  pays  for  the  advertising 
matter  many  times  over. 

The  most  notably  successful  advertising  campaign  so  far 
conducted  is  that  carried  on  by  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit 
Company  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.  Mr.  A.  W.  Warnock,  the 
general  passenger  agent,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Street 
and  Interurban  Railway  Association  at  its  1907  convention, 
describes  in  detail  the  plans  which  have  been  followed. 
The  company  is  fortunate  in  being  located  in  the  famous  lake 
district  of  Minnesota  and  of  having  on  its  lines  beautiful  and 
picturesque  scenery,  providing  many  trips  of  general  interest.  It 
also  operates  the  noted  Big  Island  Park  located  on  Lake  Minne- 
tonka.  Mr.  Warnock  states  that  his  company  owes  a  large  part 
of  its  success  to  the  cultivation  of  cordial  relations  with  the  local 
newspapers.  This  good  will  is  valuable  not  only  in  securing  fair 
treatment  in  all  controversies  affecting  the  company,  but  is  par- 
ticularly advantageous  in  developing  the  excursion  traffic.  They 
have  always  followed  the  policy  of  making  liberal  use  of  news- 
paper space  and  have  found  it  profitable.  In  addition  to  this  they 
got  out  a  nicely  prepared  folder,  describing  in  an  interesting  way 
the  many  trips  which  can  be  taken  on  the  Twin  City  Lines. 
Through  the  newspapers  they  attracted  inquiries  for  this  pamphlet 
and  were  able  to  get  out  many  thousands  of  copies,  not  only  to 
the  citizens  of  the  Twin  Cities,  but  to  hundreds  of  prospective 
visitors  living  in  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union.  This  folder 
was  also  to  be  had  for  the  asking  at  the  various  ticket  offices  of  the 
company  and  in  the  lobbies  of  the  large  hotels.  This  was  followed 
by  many  other  folders,  attractively  gotten  up  and  nicely  printed, 
describing  special  features  and  short  side  trips.  In  addition  to  this 
the  company  has  made  liberal  use  of  car  window  cards,  very 

21 


similar  to  the  ordinary  advertisements  inserted  in  the  street  car. 
These  were  very  cleverly  gotten  up  and  ran  in  a  series  very  similar 
to  some  of  the  famous  advertisements  which  have  been  put  out  by 
the  breakfast  food  companies.  The  railway  stations  along  the 
lines  have  been  liberally  filled  with  high-grade  photographs  show- 
ing the  scenery  along  the  various  lines  of  the  company.  These 
prove  of  invariable  interest  to  the  traveling  public  and  are  believed 
to  greatly  stimulate  business.  The  Twin  City  Company  has 
found  its  advertising  work  to  be  immensely  profitable. 

In  judging  of  the  profitableness  of  advertising  work,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  arrive  at  definite  conclusions.  However, 
by  watching  the  increase  in  the  volume  of  travel  on  particular 
lines,  following  the  advertisement  of  special  features,  the  rail- 
way manager  can  tell  whether  his  efforts  have  been  successful. 
The  general  experience  of  interurban  men  establishes  beyond 
question  the  fact  that  intelligent  and  catchy  advertising  is  of 
great  value,  particularly  where  the  line  has  scenic  features  or 
points  of  interest  which  can  be  used  to  stimulate  business. 

This  success  of  the  interurbans  in  building  up  freight  traffic 
has  also  been  aided  by  the  indifference  of  the  steam  roads  to  the 
class  of  shipments  which  the  electric  line  gladly  takes.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  steam  railroads  seek  car-load  freight  rather  than 
the  smaller  shipments.  It  has  been  estimated  by  traffic  experts 
that  over  85  per  cent,  of  the  total  traffic  of  the  American  rail- 
roads is  made  up  of  shipments  of  car-load  lots.  They  desire  car- 
load freight  for  the  following  reasons:  (i)  car-load  freight  is 
loaded  by  the  shipper  and  unloaded  by  the  consignee,  thereby  re- 
lieving the  railroad  company  of  the  responsibility  of  loss  and  the 
liability  of  damage  and  the  cost  of  handling  freight;  (2)  a  very 
large  percentage  of  the  car-load  shipments  is  handled  both  in- 
bound and  outbound  on  private  sidings  and  in  private  terminals ; 
(3)  less  bookkeeping  and  accounting,  in  proportion  to  the  earn- 
ings, is  required  for  car-load  shipments ;  (4)  the  cost  per  ton  mile 
to  move  ordinary  commodities  in  car-load  shipments  is  much  less 
than  to  move  a  car  of  merchandise  or  package  freight  which  must 
be  handled  at  higher  speeds  and  which  requires  large  amounts  of 
shifting  and  handling  in  the  classification  yards  and  transfer  sheds. 
This  apathy  of  the  steam  railroads  towards  broken  shipments, 
which  is  expressed  in  the  discriminations  which  are  made  against 


22 


it  in  the  freight  classifications,  gives  to  the  interurbans  their 
opportunity  to  successfully  invade  this  field. 

The  most  important  consideration  in  determining  the  profit- 
ableness of  freight  traffic  is  the  cost  of  handling  it.  This  deter- 
mines the  degree  to  which  the  interurban  can  compete  with  the 
steam  road.  The  only  reliable  data  which  has  yet  been  published 
upon  this  question  is  that  contained  in  the  address  of  H.  H.  Polk, 
president  of  the  Interurban  Railway  Company  of  Des  Moines. 
Iowa,  before  the  American  Street  and  Interurban  Railway  Asso- 
ciation at  its  last  annual  convention.  Mr.  Polk  addressed  letters 
to  the  general  managers  of  thirty  of  the  most  prominent  electric 
railroads,  requesting  information  upon  the  cost  of  handling 
freight.  He  found  that  the  greater  majority  of  them  did  not  keep 
separate  records  of  handling  freight  and  passengers  and  therefore 
could  not  give  him  the  desired  information.  From  his  own  road, 
however,  which  is  one  of  the  most  modern  interurbans  in  the 
country,  and  has  developed  to  a  very  high  degree  the  handling  of 
heavy  freight,  he  compiled  statistics  showing  the  possibilities  of 
interurban  freight  traffic. 

The  energy  consumption  of  modern  electric  locomotives  as 
determined  by  the  tests  of  the  General  Electric  Company,  are  as 
follows : 

ENERGY  CONSUMPTION 
FREIGHT  TRAINS 

Gross  Weight  in  Tons.                 Schedule  speed  Watt  hours 

of  trains  per  ton-mile 
at  locomotive 

100 15  m.  p.  h.  28 

200 15  m.  p.  h.  23 

300 15  m.  p.  h.  20 

400 15  m.  p.  h.  19 

500 15  m.  p.  h.  19 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  energy  consumption  decreases  as  the 
train  load  increases,  due  largely  to  the  reduction  in  wind  pressure 
per  ton  in  the  longer  trains.  The  cost  of  repairs  and  maintenance 
of  a  4O-ton  locomotive  equipped  with  100  H.  P.  motors,  while 
hauling  a  2OO-ton  train  about  100  miles  per  day,  will  average  1.5 
cents  per  locomotive  mile.  This  sum  includes  not  only  the  repairs 
to  the  motors  and  control,  but  also  the  care  of  the  locomotive. 

With  this  data  as  a  starting  point,  Mr.  Polk  calculates  that 
upon  his  system  he  can  haul  freight  in  train  loads  equalling  the 

23 


maximum  capacity  of  his  locomotives  at  a  cost  of  0.02194  cents 
per  ton  mile.  This  figure  includes  the  cost  of  power,  the  repairs 
to  the  locomotive,  the  cost  of  supplies  used  in  the  operation  and 
the  wages  of  the  men  operating  the  freight  train.  To  this  should 
be  added,  of  course,  a  proportionate  share  of  the  fixed  charges 
upon  the  line,  a  proportion  of  the  expenses  of  track  renewals, 
supervision,  freight  car  repairs,  expenses  in  freight  stations  and 
the  many  other  items  properly  chargeable  against  this  business. 
The  steam  railroads  have  never  been  able  to  mathematically  calcu- 
late these  expenses  for  each  train  or  ton  of  traffic  and  the  electric 
roads  have  not  been  more  successful. 

The  experience  of  the  Des  Moines  Interurban  Railway  shows, 
however,  that  it  is  possible  to  haul  freight  upon  an  electric  road 
at  very  low  costs.  The  electric  road,  if  properly  built,  can  handle 
heavy  freight  economically  and  expeditiously.  The  interurban, 
however,  has  not  yet  reached  a  stage  of  development  where  it  can 
handle  freight  over  long  distances  as  cheaply  as  the  steam  lines. 
Even  the  best  of  the  interurban  lines  are  woefully  deficient  from  a 
topographic  standpoint  as  compared  with  the  railroads.  A  basis 
of  equality  could  not  be  reached  until  the  electric  lines  possessed 
as  low  grades  as  the  steam  roads  and  this  is  neither  likely  nor 
desirable  for  the  interurban  in  attempting  to  secure  this  evenness 
of  grade  would  be  forced  to  throw  away  a  large  portion  of  the 
advantages  which  it  now  possesses  and  which  count  so  heavily  in 
its  favor.  It  is  unlikely,  therefore,  that  the  interurban  in  the  near 
future  will  become  a  serious  rival  of  the  steam  lines  for  long 
distance  freight  traffic. 

There  are  certain  classes  of  heavy  traffic  which  the  interurban 
road  can  usually  secure,  for  example,  the  live  stock  business.  By 
putting  in  small  stockyards,  side  tracks  and  loading  shutes 
wherever  they  will  be  used  the  interurban  secures  many  advan- 
tages over  the  steam  line.  If  the  shipment  must  be  made  by  the 
latter,  the  stock  must  usually  be  driven  from  five  or  ten  miles  to 
some  shipping  point.  The  experience  of  shippers  shows  that  the 
average  shrinkage  of  driving  cattle  12  miles  is  47  pounds  per 
head,  while  after  entering  the  cars  they  may  be  shipped  from 
300  to  400  miles  with  a  loss  of  27  pounds  per  head.  By  using  the 
electric  railroad  the  shippers  are  often  able  to  avoid  the  entire 
loss  resulting  from  driving,  which  in  the  aggregate  amounts  to  a 
large  sum.  The  stock  raiser  will  naturally  prefer  the  electric  line 

24 


even  though  it  may  not  offer  him  the  lowest  rate,  because  the 
extra  freight  is  more  than  offset  in  the  selling  price  of  his  cattle 
in  the  city  markets.  The  electric  line  also  can  offer  other  indirect 
advantages  to  the  farmer.  He  can  use  the  electric  line  to  ship  in 
coal,  fertilizer,  lumber,  and  all  of  the  other  heavy  freight  which 
he  buys,  and  because  of  the  shorter  distance  from  the  sidings  to 
his  barn  he  will  be  able  to  unload  the  car  more  quickly  and  with  a 
smaller  expenditure  for  labor  and  a  smaller  consumption  of  the 
time  of  his  teams.  In  the  same  way  a  farmer  contemplating  a 
shipment  of  wheat,  often  threshed  in  the  field,  can  notify  the 
interurban  of  the  time  at  which  he  will  have  his  consignment 
ready,  and  can  haul  the  grain  from  the  thresher  or  grainery  in 
much  quicker  time  and  with  smaller  expense  for  cartage  than  in 
case  he  had  selected  a  steam  road. 

Many  interurban  roads  have  materially  increased  their  freight 
earnings  by  encouraging  the  development  of  new  crops  along 
their  lines.  The  management  impresses  upon  the  farmer,  by  a 
campaign  of  education,  the  profits  to  be  derived  from  a  new  crop 
and  secures  the  planting  of  a  considerable  area.  It  then  en- 
courages buyers  to  go  into  the  district,  and  through  the  careful 
attention  which  it  gives  to  these  matters  secures  the  whole  crop 
for  shipment  over  its  line.  This  business  is  becoming  a  prominent 
and  constantly  growing  source  of  income.  A  number  of  inter- 
urbans  have  gone  so  far  as  to  build  lines  into  districts  underlaid 
with  coal  and  to  actively  encourage  and  assist  the  opening  of 
mines  by  distributing  their  product  in  the  neighboring  cities  over 
the  city  lines.  The  interurban  is  rapidly  pushing  into  every  class 
of  freight  traffic,  actively  competing  for  it,  and  securing  it  more 
generally  by  the  convenience  and  promptness  which  it  offers  than 
by  the  cutting  of  rates.  Its  field,  however,  as  Mr.  Polk  pic- 
turesquely describes  it,  is  that  of  a  collector  and  originator  of 
traffic,  for  "  the  steam  roads  are  the  main  arteries  of  the  commerce 
of  the  world,  while  the  electric  railroads  are  the  capillaries  that 
bring  life  and  activity  to  the  various  communities." 

The  determination  of  the  profitableness  of  heavy  freight  work 
to  the  interurban  road  depends  not  only  upon  the  actual  earnings 
derived  from  this  traffic,  but  also  upon  the  effect  which  its  car- 
riage has  upon  the  operation  of  the  rest  of  the  system.  A  large 
number  of  companies  have  found,  that  owing  to  insufficient  over- 
head work  and  generating  equipment  in  the  power  house,  the 

25 


handling  of  heavy  freight  by  an  electric  locomotive  plays  havoc 
with  their  time  schedule  The  drain  of  the  electric  locomotive  re- 
duces the  voltage  over  the  entire  system  and  causes  the  passenger 
cars  to  run  behind  their  schedule.  A  number  of  companies  found, 
moreover,  that  their  heavy-grades  result  in  such  a  high  consump- 
tion of  power  in  handling  cars  as  to  make  the  service  of  the  freight 
train  very  slow,  causing  congestion  and  delays  in  their  passenger 
work.  Others  have  found  that  their  light  roadbeds,  often  accom- 
panied with  steep  grades  have  not  been  able  to  stand  the  severe 
usage  which  the  handling  of  heavy  trains  inflicted.  The  conse- 
quent damage  and  deterioration  often  more  than  offsets  the  earn- 
ings which  the  freight  traffic  produces.  The  well  built  roads,  how- 
ever, having  ample  power  and  a  roadway  built  in  accordance  with 
steam  railroad  standards,  have  been  able  to  overcome  these  diffi- 
culties, and  by  the  liberal  provision  of  side  tracks  have  been  able 
to  handle  their  freight  business  without  interfering  with  or 
retarding  the  movement  of  passenger  cars. 

In  judging  of  the  profitableness  of  freight  traffic  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  into  consideration  many  factors,  some  of  which 
often  seem  to  be  but  remotely  involved.  The  Ohio  River  Elec- 
tric Railway  and  Power  Company,  for  example,  finds  that 
freight  business  is  both  directly  and  indirectly  profitable.  They 
do  a  large  electric  lighting  business  in  addition  to  their  regular 
work,  which  makes  necessary  the  continuous  operation  of  their 
power  houses  all  night.  The  interurban  service  is  largely  re- 
duced after  the  early  hours  of  the  evening  and  disappears 
entirely  after  midnight.  The  engines  in  the  power  house,  how- 
ever, are  still  being  run  to  generate  current  for  light.  By 
handling  the  freight  during  the  night,  when  the  railway  power 
load  is  either  very  small  or  has  entirely  disappeared,  the 
additional  work  makes  up  the  full  load  of  the  power  house, 
decreasing  the  cost  of  power,  both  for  Jighting  purposes 
and  for  use  on  the  interurban  line.  It  is  unfortunate  that  a  large 
number  of  the  interurban  roads  in  the  East  are  debarred  by  the 
difference  in  their  track  gauge  from  the  direct  interchange  of  car 
load  freight  with  the  steam  railroads.  The  standard  steam  rail- 
road gauge  is  four  feet  eight  and  one-half  inches,  while  the  stand- 
ard street  railway  gauge  is  five  feet  two  inches.  In  the  Eastern 
states  the  street  railway  gauge  has  been  used  extensively  by  the 
interurban  lines.  This  has  in  many  cases  been  voluntary,  being 

26 


the  result  of  following  current  street  railway  practices,  while  in 
other  cases  it  has  been  made  necessary  by  legislation  compelling 
the  use  of  this  gauge  by  roads  using  the  public  highways.  Upon 
such  lines  the  economical  handling  of  car-load  freight  is  prac- 
tically impossible. 

The  extent  to  which  the  well  equipped  interurbans  can  develop 
car-load  freight  traffic  depends  largely  upon  their  ability  to  secure 
satisfactory  traffic  agreements  with  the  steam  railroads.  Many 
railroad  companies  endeavor  to  strangle  the  electric  lines  by  either 
refusing  to  cooperate  or  by  cutting  rates  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing the  interurban  out  of  the  freight  business.  The  sections  in 
which  they  must  meet  competition  bear  such  a  small  percentage  to 
the  total  mileage  of  their  system  that  they  can  afford  to  carry 
heavy  losses  in  this  restricted  area  in  order  to  destroy  the  com- 
petition of  the  interurban.  Many  of  the  Western  States  have 
passed  laws  intended  to  prevent  these  tactics.  The  State  of  Iowa, 
for  example,  has  a  law  providing  that  if  a  railroad  company  shall 
reduce  its  rates  to  low  levels  in  certain  localities  where  interurban 
competition  is  encountered,  the  same  rates  for  similar  classes  of 
traffic  shall  automatically  take  effect  throughout  the  state.  The 
steam  railroad,  therefore,  which  inaugurates  a  policy  of  rate  cut- 
ting in  Iowa  to  injure  an  interurban  is  brought  face  to  face  with 
the  adoption  of  the  low  charges  over  the  entire  system.  The  law 
has  effectually  put  an  end  to  such  practices  in  that  state. 

A  large  number  of  interurban  roads  have  been  admitted  to 
membership  in  the  local  freight  associations  in  their  district,  pro- 
rating on  the  usual  basis  with  the  steam  railroads  on  all  traffic. 
Many  other  roads  have  never  been  formally  admitted  into  the 
older  companies'  traffic  associations,  but  interchange  traffic  with 
some  or  all  of  the  roads  in  the  territory,  receiving  a  compensation 
on  a  tonnage  basis  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  miles  hauled 
over  their  lines.  In  most  cases,  however,  the  interurban  road  is 
unable  to  make  money  out  of  handling  car  load  freight  under 
ordinary  working  agreements  based  upon  mileage  rates.  A  num- 
ber of  them  have  secured  concessions  from  the  steam  railroads 
allowing-  them  a  larger  percentage  of  the  earnings  than  they  would 
ordinarily  receive  upon  a  mileage  basis.  Many  interurban  roads 
have  found  themselves  in  an  embarrassing  position  as  the  result 
of  a  percentage  agreement  entered  into  with  the  steam  line.  When 
the  latter  cut  rates,  the  earnings  of  the  interurban  roads  were  re- 

27 


duced  to  an  unprofitable  level.  In  many  cases,  however,  the  steam 
lines  have  been  far-sighted  enough  to  protect  their  weaker  asso- 
ciates from  the  consequences  of  this  unfortunate  situation.  They 
have  either  voluntarily  released  the  electric  lines  from  the  per- 
centage agreement,  or  have  made  up  the  deficiency  in  some  other 
way. 

The  most  progressive  steam  railroads  are  coming  to  realize 
that  the  interurban  is  not  a  true  competitor  even  in  handling  car- 
load freight.  It  is  a  branch  line  or  feeder  constructed  with  out- 
side capital  and  operated  without  worry  or  trouble  to  the  trunk 
line :  a  branch  which  collects  freight  and  turns  it  over  to  the  main 
system  for  transportation  to  the  far  distant  market.  The  inter- 
urban  takes  the  place  of  the  branch  line  which  is  profitable  to  the 
steam  railroad  only  because  it  delivers  traffic  for  long  hauls  and  is 
itself  usually  unprofitable.  The  interurban  is  also  more  profitable 
to  the  large  railway  system  than  a  branch  line,  because  it  can  more 
effectively  develop  traffic.  The  interurban  is  essentially  a  local 
affair.  It  operates  within  a  restricted  territory  and  can  more 
fully  realize  the  traffic  possibilities  of  a  section  than  the  large 
organization  of  the  steam  railroad.  The  relatively  insignificant 
amount  which  the  railroad  loses  by  dividing  its  local  business  with 
the  interurban  is  offset  many  times  by  the  extra  tonnage  which  is 
developed  in  this  section. 

The  interurban  railroads  have  also  made  material  progress  in 
developing  an  express  business.  This  traffic  is  either  handled  in 
conjunction  with  one  of  the  large  express  companies  doing  busi- 
ness all  over  the  country,  or  separately  and  independently  by  the 
interurban  or  a  subsidiary  corporation  organized  in  its  behalf. 
The  Cincinnati,  Dayton  and  Toledo  Traction  Company,  for 
example,  handled  its  express  traffic  through  a  subsidiary  cor- 
poration whose  stock  is  owned  by  the  interurban  road.  The 
traction  company  furnishes  the  cars,  crew  and  power  and  receives 
ten  cents  per  mile  for  the  mileage  of  the  freight  cars.  The  ex- 
press company  attends  to  the  collection  and  delivery  of  the  freight 
and  handles  all  the  work  incident  thereto.  It  owns  thirty 
wagons  and  teams  in  the  leading  towns  along  the  line  and  has 
.  established  stations  at  almost  every  stop.  Each  wagon  has  a 
regular  route  and  makes  four  trips  a  day,  picking  up  and  distri- 
buting express  matter.  The  company  employs  a  number  of 
solicitors  whose  duty  it  is  to  encourage  country  merchants  to 

28 


direct  that  goods  which  they  order  from  jobbing  or  city  merchants 
shall  be  shipped  by  the  interurban.  The  gross  receipts  of  the 
express  company  during  1904  amounted  to  between  $3,000  and 
$4,000  a  month,  of  which  75  per  cent.,  it  is  calculated,  is  eaten  up 
in  operating  expenses.  Even  on  this  basis,  however,  the  traction 
company  derives  a  good  profit  from  this  feature  of  its  business. 
The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  has  also  developed  a  consider- 
able express  business  through  its  subsidiary  organization,  the 
Electric  Package  Company.  This  company  started  out  to  do  a 
freight  business,  but  found  that  the  handling  of  light  packages 
at  high  rates  was  more  profitable.  They,  therefore,  organized  a 
package  company  and  gradually  withdrew  from  handling  heavy 
freight.  In  1904  the  road  cleared  over  $17,000  net  from  this 
source. 

The  greatest  difficulty  which  the  interurban  encounters  in 
developing  its  express  traffic  is  the  large  amount  of  expense 
which  must  be  incurred  in  collecting  packages.  This  is  par- 
ticularly necessary  because  the  central  station  in  most  of  the 
large  towns  is  not  as  advantageously  located  as  those  of  the 
express  companies  doing  business  over  the  steam  lines.  If,  how- 
ever, a  sufficient  volume  of  business  can  be  secured  to  warrant 
the  employment  of  this  expensive  means  of  collection,  the  traffic 
is  profitable.  Recent  investigations  show  that  in  the  Middle 
West  companies  are  about  equally  divided  between  freight  and 
express  business.  The  differentiation  between  these  two  classes 
of  traffic  consists  more  in  the  name  than  in  the  fact.  The  larger 
majority  of  roads  handling  light  freight,  and  they  are  the  greater 
proportion  of  those  doing  a  freight  business,  in  reality  are  hand- 
ling traffic  which  would  be  shipped  by  express  if  the  steam 
railroads  were  relied  upon.  The  distinction,  therefore,  is  clearly 
one  of  terminology,  of  the  speed  of  service  and  of  the  rates  which 
are  charged.  The  lines  handling  light  freight  usually  charge 
rates  which  are  higher  than  the  ordinary  freight  rates  for  the 
same  classes  of  articles  and  which  are  lower  than  the  rates  given 
by  the  large  express  companies  for  the  same  service.  By  charg- 
ing a  rate  between  these  two  extremes  the  interurban  is  able  to 
capture  a  large  amount  of  this  business. 

Many  roads  which  handle  both  freight  and  express  traffic 
differentiate  between  them,  largely  upon  the  basis  of  the  speed  of 
delivery.  Express  matter  is  hurried  through  with  all  profitable 

29 


despatch,  being  sent  on  the  first  car  departing  after  the  arrival 
of  the  goods.  The  freight  traffic,  however,  is  allowed  to  accumu- 
late and  is  shipped  at  the  convenience  of  the  interurban  road. 
When  a  car  has  an  insufficient  amount  of  express  matter  to  fill 
the  compartment  the  empty  space  is  filled  with  freight.  When, 
however,  a  full  load  of  express  is  at  hand  no  freight  is  shipped. 
The  freight,  therefore,  acts  as  a  feeder  to  the  express  business, 
constituting  practically  the  same  sort  of  traffic  which  the  regular 
steamship  lines  except  at  cut  rates  in  order  to  make  up  their 
cargo.  The  interurban  can  well  afford  to  handle  such  business  at 
low  rates,  for  practically  all  the  earnings  which  it  produces  is 
profit.  This  plan  has  been  followed  with  success  by  the  Western 
Ohio  Traction  Company  and  by  the  Appleyard  System. 

The  interurban  roads  are  still  passing  through  the  experi- 
mental stage  with  both  light  freight  and  express  traffic.  Many 
of  them  are  charging  rates  which  are  higher  than  are  demanded 
by  the  cost  of  operation  and  which,  however,  do  not  produce  the 
maximum  amount  of  revenue  from  this  source.  By  excluding  a 
large  amount  of  farm  products  they  decrease  their  volume  of 
traffic  and  consequently  cut  down  their  earnings.  A  number  of 
roads  have  experimented  over  long  periods  with  different  rates, 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  charges  which  will  prove  the  most  de- 
sirable, both  to  the  shipper  and  the  railroad.  The  great  variety 
of  local  conditions  which  are  met  with  and  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances surrounding  each  property  make  any  general  rule  or 
basis  of  charges  impracticable  and  require  that  each  manager 
shall  by  observation  and  experiment  work  out  his  own  problems. 

The  electric  interurban  is  as  yet  in  its  infancy.  The 
twenty  years  of  its  life  have  been  more  momentuous  than 
that  of  any  period  of  equal  length  in  the  history  of  trans- 
portation and  it  is  likely  that  the  next  two  decades  will  be  equally 
as  revolutionary.  The  future  of  the  interurban  railroad  is  most 
promising.  A  realization  of  the  economies  of  constructing  these 
lines  upon  the  most  improved  engineering  standards  has  removed 
most  of  the  causes  for  the  failure  of  these  enterprises  in  the  past. 

An  even  more  significant  trend  in  interurban  development  is 
toward  a  general  realization  that  every  step  in  advance  should 
be  prompted  by  a  traffic  motive,  and  that  every  improvement 
which  is  made  should  increase  the  ability  of  the  company  to 

30 


secure  and  develop  business  and  to  more  effectively  compete 
with  the  steam  road. 

The  future  of  the  interurban  contains  boundless  possibilities. 
Its  development  has  just  begun,  and  the  first  principles  which  will 
guide  its  progress  have  been  established.  In  view  of  the  wonder- 
ful changes  which  occurred  in  the  past,  it  is  difficult  to  accurately 
forecast  the  future  in  store  for  these  roads.  Certain  tendencies, 
however,  are  so  plainly  apparent  as  to  indicate  the  general  nature 
of  the  future  history  of  these  properties.  The  rapid  progress 
which  has  been  made  in  the  last  few  years  in  consolidating  many 
small  roads  into  a  few  large  systems,  indicates  that  the  interurban 
is  going  through  the  same  development  which  marked  the  history 
of  the  steam  roads  fifty  years  ago.  There  is  little  doubt  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  present  interurban  companies  will  be  con- 
solidated into  a  few  large  systems,  although  it  is  unlikely  that 
the  new  companies  will  reach  the  magnitude  of  the  large  steam 
railroad  companies.  There  is  no  economic  basis  for  an  electric 
interurban  system  covering  ten  to  fifteen  states.  These  consoli- 
dations will  bring  with  them  a  marked  elevation  in  the  technical 
standards  of  the  interurban  roads.  The  practices  of  the  most 
progressive  roads  will  become  the  standards  of  all,  and  the 
standardization  of  cars,  equipment,  roadbed  and  machinery  will 
make  possible  the  development  of  long  distance  business,  and  the 
more  general  exploitation  of  freight  possibilities.  This  move- 
ment will  be  checked  to  a  serious  extent  by  the  mistakes  which 
were  made  during  the  early  years.  The  existence  of  lines  poorly 
constructed,  and  operating  over  almost  prohibitive  grades  is  a 
serious  obstacle  to  any  general  and  rapid  advance,  for  the  recon- 
struction of  these  properties  on  modern  lines  would  increase  the 
fixed  charges  of  the  companies  to  a  prohibitive  point.  The  future 
of  such  roads  is  dismal.  It  is  in  the  first  place,  unlikely  that  the 
consolidation  will  include  these  companies.  If  they  operate  be- 
tween centers  originating  large  traffic,  their  position  is  extremely 
perilous,  for  it  is  probable  that  some  powerful  company  will 
build  a  low  grade,  high  speed  line  connecting  the  two  cities  and 
take  away  practically  all  of  the  traffic  which  the  older  company 
had  depended  upon.  This  has  already  occurred  to  a  considerable 
extent  all  over  the  country.  One  of  the  most  recent  examples 
being  between  Boston  and  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

The  interurban  line  is  likely  to  continue  to  be  preeminently  a 

31 


passenger  carrier.  The  importance  of  the  freight  business,  how- 
ever, will  relatively  increase,  although  it  is  not  likely  that  these 
roads  will  ever  seriously  compete  for  the  heavy  long  distance 
freight  work.  It  is  unlikely  that  the  interurban  will  generally  fall 
under  the  domination  of  the  steam  roads,  for  the  people  of  the 
sections  which  are  involved,  realizing  the  advantages  of  the  regu- 
lative influences  which  the  interurban  exerts,  will  prevent  their 
absorption  by  the  steam  railroads.  Effective  legislation  toward 
this  end  has  already  been  enacted  in  many  states. 


UNIVEBSITY  OF  CALIFOENIA  LIBRARY, 
BERKELEY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

Books  not  returned  on  time  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  overdue,  increasing 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day.  Books  not  in 
demand  may  be  renewed  if  application  is  made  before 
expiration  of  loan  period. 


IY1A3 


&  I1/T1 


0V  111940!* 


DEC  20194QM 
FEB    25  1948 

LIBRARY  USE 

AUG  17  1952 

3lOct'55VL| 
OCT171955LU 


20m-ll,'20 


